i'm craig melvin in for tamron hall. the "news nation" is following the latest in the fiscal cliff blame game on friday. the rhetoric heats up as the clock winds down. today house speaker boehner and nancy pelosi held duelling news conferences slamming the other side for not taking the looming crisis seriously. >> this isn't a progress report, because there's no progress to report. when it comes to the fiscal cliff that's threatening our economy and threatening jobs, the white house has wasted another week. >> we've had time. the president has given the republicans flexibility to come up with a credible, specific

plan. what they offered in return was an empty letter lacking in specifics. >> meanwhile, vice president biden is having lunch with several middle class americans who would see their income taxes go up if the tax cuts are not extended. all of this comes as the first jobs report since the election exceeded expectations. the u.s. economy added some 146,000 jobs last month. that was enough it to drive the unemployment rate down to 7.7%. joining me to talk about all of it, florida congresswoman debbie wasserman schultz and she chairs the democratic national committee. good friday afternoon to you. >> thank you. >> john boehner said today that democrats' plan is to, quote, slow walk our economy to the edge of the fiscal cliff. how do you respond it to that? >> well, that's just utterly preposterous. the republicans right now in the house of representatives have a

bill that would extend the middle class tax cuts right away that has passed the senate that they could take up next week when we come back. they could have already taken it up. we have a lot of time, and the republicans refuse to give certainty to the middle class. the president said he'd seen this bill right away, and then the rest of the issues we need to sort out we can hash out over the next few weeks before we reach december 31st. >> issues like entitlement reform? >> well, issues like making sure we can pass a balanced approach to deficit reduction. we know we need to have some significance spending cuts. we know that we need to generate some revenue, and we clearly as a result of this election know that the american people support increasing taxes through tax rate increases on the wealthiest 2% of americans. those middle class tax cuts in that legislation would protect the tax cuts for 98% of americans and 97% of small businesses.

that, as we are in the midst of the holiday season, is absolutely essential to continuing to get our economy turned around and focus on job creation. >> "the new york times" reporting today that negotiations are now down to just two people. the president, the house speaker. we know that some senate democrats dispute this. what do you think about this point with regard to the negotiations and who's in the room? >> i know that the president and his advisers are focused on making sure that in the discussions that they have with both the house and the senate that whatever plan they agree to includes a balanced approach. one that's fair to the middle class and one whose math makes sense and reaches the size of the duff sit reduction we need that doesn't balance all the pain on the backs of the middle class and that makes sure that we have suspending cuts and revenue. when it comes to entitlement reform, we have an opportunity to add another hundreds of billions of dollars in savings

like in the affordable care act which added eight years of solvency to medicare. we have a chance to do that well. >> whether you say entitlement reform, are you talking about raising the age that one would qualify for medicare? are you talking about changing the means testing for social security as well? >> first of all, social security is a separate issue unrelated to the fiscal cliff discussions and is not part of this discussion in my opinion. when it comes to the savings that we're able to continue to glean out of medicare, we can do that through the $360 billion that is in president obama's proposal with $4 trillion in deficit reduction that does it without cutting benefits. we have an opportunity to administrator years of solvency to medicare and medicaid. we need republicans to sit down at the table and embrace the notion you need a balanced approach. they need to send that middle class tax cut extension bill to

the president's desk. >> what, if anything, does today's jobs report do for the president's hand in these negotiations? >> it just continues to add to the idea that we continue to make slow and steady progress. that we need to make more progress, and that you can see that although we've created jobs in the private sector i think for 33 straight months, you have a fragile recovery that we know a fiscal cliff would really impact in a dramatic way. we want to make sure we aavovoi that. we have an easy, no-brainer thing to do to give that certainty and another shot in the arm to the economy. and that is extend the middle class tax cuts. simple, no-brainer thing to do we agree on. >> really quickly here. ten seconds before we get out of here. how wide is the chasm between all of the public posturing we see and hear about, how wide that chasm between that and what's happening behind closed doors with regards to the

negotiations? >> we have a lot of issues to hammer through. i'm hearing more positive rumblings from the republicans npt house of representatives. a greater understand we need to sit down and work together and avoid this fiscal cliff. >> debbie, always a pleasure. good to see you. let's bring in lori montgomery for "the washington post," democratic strategy blake zeff. we decided to focus on this today. lori, let me start with you. both house leaders today, it really seems as if talks are -- it seems they're at a standstill, but our first read team is convinced a deal is in sight. we heard from debbie wasserman schultz she heard a deal is in sight. what are you hearing? >> you can see what the framework of a deal is, and i think today you heard speaker boehner. his office tried to walk it back, but for the first time he made public remarks where he didn't rule out an increase in

tax rates. you have to wonder if they don't start to move towards a resolution it to what has been the big stumbling point. >> zachary, she mentioned an increase in rates. it would seem that the magic number might be 37%. the president said 39.5% for the highest income earners. right now we're at 35%. maybe i'm oversimplifying, but the obvious compromise would be right smack in the middle. no? >> we'll take a finger in the wind. this is where people don't like to see the legislative process, because whether it con it comes it, there's a number to make in terms of revenue cuts -- not revenue but tax cuts, revenue games and how you get to the magic number has very little to do with the absolute number you need and this sort of optics of do you give a little to the republicans so they can say we kept the president from doing the full extent of what he demanded to you or do you not? democrats are in a much smaller

position here because that relentless line democrats are repeating for weeks now, if we get to january 1 without middle class tax cuts extended, it's on you, republicans. >> blake, it sounded like house speaker john boehner is in wait and see mode. this is something else he said and get your take on the other side. take a listen. >> if the president doesn't agree with our proposal i agree he has an obligation to families and small businesses to offer a plan of his own. a plan that can pass both chambers of the congress. >> so the president a's plan may not be able to pass the house at this point, but he's been out making his case to the american public, having dinner yesterday with a middle class family in virginia. vice president biden doing something similar today. what does the president hope to accomplish with visits like that and photo opes like this. >> this is a movie where we have a spoiler alert where we know the ending here. it goes one of two ways.

we have taxes go up for everyone or the rich. president obama is making it clear to john boehner who aappears to be anyway public denial to try to stall time to prevent that from happening. >> is that the goal whether he comes out and has press conferences like that, is he posturing? what is he doing, if the end has already been decided. >> i don't know if it's been decided, but there's inevitablity here. the way it works is this is not an even fight where the republicans and democrats start in a certain way. if nothing happens, taxes go up at the new year, and that's a problem for republicans. it's a better hand for democrats. the alternatives is taxes go up for everyone or the top 2%. that's an inevitable reality. i think john boehner has a lot of completing political interest here. he has to worry about a very difficult caucus. we have people on the very right who aren't ready to raise taxes on the rich. there's a moment of reckoning sooner or later. >> the other part is entitlement

reform. we've heard some details about what they might be considering, you know, means testing, changing the means testing, raising the age of eligibility. what are you hearing with regards to sbimgentitlement ref that they would like to see versus the entitlement reforms that the president and democrats are likely to offer? >> i think all of this is more nuanced than we know right now. john boehner has to let rates go up. i think that's right. whether or not it's to 37 or whether or not we raise the threshold from 250 to something like $500,000 at the point we call people rich, that's a possibility. i think the same thing exists on the entitlement side. there are things that president obama laid on the table in the summer of 2011 we keep talking about. democrats really do not like changes to the measure of inflation applied to social security benefits, and they really do not like raising the eligibility age for medicare. so there are other things that

happen? can we scale back the generosity of the obama care subsidies? can we start means testing in additional ways in the medicare program? they have to get creative. >> they got it to get creative, zachary. this comes at the busiest time of the year for retailers and businesses. have you noticed any signs at this point that consumers are at all holding back this holiday season fearing we may go over the so-called fiscal cliff? >> there's a lot of news reports on consumers holding back, but it's not clear it to me that that's more than finding a story and finding your anecdote. >> are you accusing the media of -- >> i'm making an observation and i'm going to by the ipad but i'm worried about the fiscal cliff so i'm buying the mini. that's about the extent of consumer concern. consumers are worried about jobs and general economic conditions insofar as washington is

perceived as a impediment to that, which is clearly is perceived as, then people are concerned. i don't think you have nearly a one-to-one connection. the consumer sentiment is a pretty weird gauge which they ask how you feel, and that went down today. if you have constant 24/7 coverage about going off a fiscal cliff, you have to expect people to be concerned. >> my understanding with regards to consumer sentiment is that it varies widely depending on how much money you make. >> it varies based on the news cycle. there's two things. the constant is how much money you make, meaning how much you lose your job. that's constant. that doesn't vary a whole lot. in the past 20 days or so people have heard come january 1 all the bad things happen. they get anxious. that's true. they don't spend less because there's a little bit anxious. >> the jobs numbers, of course, we've talked about that a little bit here, 146,000 jobs added,

unemployment rate down to 7.7%. these numbers much better than early estimates. what's behind the numbers at this point? >> i think that the economy dodged a bullet with hurricane sandy in a way we really weren't expecting. we were really expecting to see that hit much harder because it hit the week that they were taking the survey. the real concern with the economy now that you're hearing fl folks like mark zandy is that it's not consumers that are not spending, it's employers who are spending. business investment has been down year over year in the last two quarters as people do not, you know, invest in equipment or buy software because they have no idea what's happening to their tax rates in january. that's where people get nervous about what's going on. >> the uncertainty? >> yeah. >> blake, if there is a deal to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff, could these jobs numbers get considerable better? >> i think so, but it's funny. the republicans are in a bit of a box here. their motivation is to say it's not so good.

a lot of jobless people out there. we have a real problem. meanwhi meanwhile, we have fiscal cliff negotiations where the president wants stimulus mechanisms including an extension of unemployment insurance. they're like a doctor who diagnosed you with a severe ill sxns won't sign the precipitation to give you the medicine. they emphasize the joblessness problem, and they don't want to give you unemployment insurance and tell that to someone laid off sleeping in their car. >> with these jobs numbers, had hurricane sandy not struck how better would this report have been? >> a lot of this was construction job weakness. clearly, that will rebound. one of the unfortunate upsides of natural disaster is that you do, whether the states or federal governments do it or insurance companies, you have a lot of infrastructure spending as people rebuild from the wreckage. you had 20,000 less construction jobs last month. that's likely to be a 20,000-plus or more just to rebuild new jersey alone.

you have that. by the way, we haven't talked about the defense cuts that go into effect on january 1, which is truly massive. those have a negative effect on the sector exposed to it and jobs there. >> really quickly now. i love having you on because you have the ability to simplify fairly complex questions. i'm going to give you one here. republicans generalliy argue tht raising taxes will hurt the economy. is there any clear indication there will be job losses if tax rates go up 2, 3 percentage points. >> no matter how editorials you read arguing that case, there's no clear-cut evidence there's any clear-cut connection between marginally higher rates or lower growth over the past 50, 60 years. >> the correlation is not definitive? >> yes. >> zachary, thank you so mesh. blake, always a pleasure. lori, thanks to you in d.c. as well. coming up a deadly development in london after the

prank phone call to the hospital where the duchess of cambridge was treated. the nurse initially duped by the hoax is found dead. new reaction from the palace next. plus, a new report reveals how much money was spent on the presidential election. it's an eye-popping figure. it's the most expensive race in american history he. we'll talk more about that. it's one of the things we thought you should know. the white house considering legal action against two states that legalized pot. yeah. join our conversation. we're all over twitter and on the facebookle as well. on twitter we're @newsnation. we'll see you back here in a few moments. ♪ my room is still messed up and i know why ♪ ♪ the weather outside is frightful ♪

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hospital that treated the duchess of cambridge. the nurse from that hospital was found dead today. take a listen. >> hello. good morning. >> hello, there. could i please speak to kate, please, my granddaughter? >> yes. just hold on, ma'am. >> thank you. kate my darling are you here? >> good morning, mom. how can i help you? >> i'm just after my granddaughter kate. i want to see how her little tummy bug is going. >> michelle is live at the hospital with us for the latest on the story. what can you tell us? >> reporter: hi, craig. less than a day ago the world was laughing at this prank, and today it has taken this incredibly, unexpectedly tragic turn. the hospital said that that nurse that originally took the call and transferred it to the duchess of cambridge's ward was found dead. reportedly only a few yards from

the hospital. she's a woman in her 40s with two young children. she's apparently taken her own life. here's what the hospital said. >> the hospital had been supporting her through this very difficult time. she was a first class nurse who cared diligently for hundreds of patients during her time with us. everyone is shocked by the loss of a much-loved and valued colleague. >> reporter: they said she had worked here for more than four years. almost immediately the palace responded saying that the duke and duchess are deeply saddened, and the palace wanted to emphasize that no one from the palace or royal family made any complaint against those nurses or the hospital. in australia where yesterday the deejays apologized saying they meant no harm, their broadcasting company released a statement saying everyone is deeply shocked.

they felt it best the deejays don't make any comment right now and don't do their radio show again until further notice out of respect for this situation. here in britain this news is being called staggering, because you know what? something that that prank phone call highlighted other than the breach of security was the kindness and unsuspecting willingness of those nurses to help apparently thinking they were really talking to the queen. people here say, you know what? as the hospital emphasized, they're trained to help people and not deal with things like this. few probably thought of this when you're laughing at the prank how are those affected dealing with the embarrassment and the attention that was worldwide. craig. >> michelle from that hospital today in london. thank you. still aahead here on this friday afternoon, vermont congressman peter welch will join me live. i'll get his reaction to speaker

boehn boehner's new comments that there's no progress in the talks. burglars break into congressman darrell issa's home. it's what we thought you should know today. be sure it to check out our "news nation" tumblr page as well. the capital one cash rewards card gives you 1% cash back on all purchases, plus a 50% annual bonus. and everyone likes 50% more... [ midwestern/chicago accent ] cheddar! yeah! 50 percent more [yodeling] yodel-ay-ee-oo. 50% more flash.

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>> speaker boehner says no progress has been made in the fiscal cliff talks with the president with just about three weeks left before the deadline. we'll check in with political editor mark murray. first, lawyers for george zimmerman have filed a lawsuit against nbc universal for its coverage of the february 26th, 2012 shooting death of trayvon martin in sanford, florida. it alleges defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress. in a statement the parent company said, quote, we strongly disagree with the accusations made in the complaint. there was no intent to portray mr. zimmerman unfairly. we intend to vigorously defend our position in court. we'll be right back. tonight our guest, thomas sargent. nobel laureate in economics, and one of the most cited economists in the world. professor sargent, can you tell me what cd rates will be in two years? no.

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time for the political postscript. john boehner said a fiscal cliff deal is no closer now than it was a week ago. nancy pelosi called for more

urgency. >> four days ago we offered a serious proposal based on testimony of president clinton's former chief of staff. since then there's been no counteroffer from the white house. >> this is a moment of truth. the clock is ticking. christmas is coming. the goose is getting fat, but in many homes across america it's a very, very lean time. >> the goose is getting fat. this was the latest salvo in a week of ups and downs in negotiations as both sides engaged in a tug-of-war over tax rates and spending cuts. >> i was just flabbergasted and said you can't be serious? right now i would say we're nowhere. >> there shouldn't be anything offered in public. the president, speaker boehner in a room and nobody come out until it's solved. >> we have to see the rates on the top 2% go up, and we're not going to get a deal with it. >> the problem with the republican proposal is it does raise taxes.

>> if they do not make this deal on tax rates for the top 2%, they're going away and we're going to come back and pass tax can you tells for everybody under 250. >> is the administration prepared to go over the fiscal cliff? >> absolutely. >> if congress in any way suggests that they're going to tie negotiations to debt ceiling votes, i will not play that game. >> he's the last person who should have limitless borrowing power. look, the only way we ever cut spending around here is by using the debate over the debt limit to do it. >> joining me now is nbc's senior political editor, mark murray. we've heard a lot about this idea of decoupling the tax cuts where the house would pass two girls, one for the middle class and one for top earners leaving it up to the senate to reject the tax cut for the rich. is that idea really on the table at this point? >> craig, that decoupling is what the white house and democrats do want.

there does seem to be an indication and all the signs point to at the end of the day republicans in some form or fashion might end up budging on floo that front. you played a bunch of clips of republicans and democrats engaging in a lot of posturing and pr. a lot influences the public in this debate as well as the news media, but it's to influence their own members. as everyone braces for a deal, i think we have about another week of this posturing pr phase before we get to crunch time. in particular that week before the christmas holiday. i think that's when you have president obama and john boehner engaged in very serious discussio discussions, but right now it's the stage of posturing and pr. >> what about the idea that negotiations are now essentially the speaker in the room and the president in the room. first of all, how much do house republicans trust john boehner to get a good deal for the gop? >> well, that is a big question.

"the new york times" had a very smart piece earlier this week reporting that john boehner seems to have a stronger command of the rank and file than ever before, but the white house seems like it was burned in 2011 during that debt ceiling fight where the end of the day they felt like that they could make a deal with john boehner, but he couldn't cut any deal either because his leadership wasn't totally on board as well as the rank and file. there is some danger to the mono and mono negotiating because it hasn't worked before. if there's a deal, it's definitely between the house and house republicans. those are the key players. if they bring in more people and having more voices, that's one thing. that's where the deal will be cut. >> this week we saw both the white house and congressional republicans gear up or appear to gear up for another fight over the debt ceiling as well. the fiscal cliff and the debt ceiling, are they connected? >> the white house wants them to be connected. they actually think if neck get a deal decoupling the bush tax

cuts, having entitlement reform in dealing with the debt ceiling that is getting a raise and not having to worry about it for another couple of years, that's what they want. house republicans have indicated that, look, they actually might want it to kick the can down the road, make a deal on taxes but kick it down the road where they have more leverage. president obama was asked about that earlier this week and said he doesn't want to play the debt ceiling game anymore. that's where republicans have more leverage than then do on other matters. >> all right. senior political editor mark murray, have a great weekend, sir. >> i want to bring in congressman peter welch from vermont. good to see you again. talked to you last weekend on msnbc. at that point you told me that you thought there was a 50/50 shot we'd go off the so-called fiscal cliff. today speaker boehner said talks were going absolutely nowhere. do you want to take an opportunity to update your prediction, or are you sticking with 50/50? >> well, i'll stick with 50/50,

maybe 55/45 we will go off the cliff. essentially what's happening, your report was excellent, i thought. there's a face-saving maneuver that the speaker has to find. he has to find a way to get his members to be able to do that, which they don't want to do. he knows that taxes go up on the top 2%. obama won that in the campaign. the problem that the speaker faces is his members won on a campaign platform they were going to lower taxes for high-income folks. it's a tough sell to get his members to do that, which they don't want to do. on the other hand his members know that the end game will be taxes go up on the it top 2%. either they'll have the maneuver of two votes so everybody has a face-saving way forward on the revenues, or we'll wait until january and put a tax bill on the floor where they maintain their commitment to groefrer norquist and vote at that point for lower taxes. >> you are one of the democrats who has indicated in the past

you'd be willing to go off the so-called cliff if that's awhat it takes to get a good deal. are you at all concerned the message that that sends to the markets, the message that sends potentially to consumers as well during this busy holiday shopping season? >> i am. you know, it's another indication of congressional dysfunction. so it's not anything that's particularly desirable. it's a pick your poison type of situation. if we turn into a bad, unsustainable deal just so we can say we did it before january 1st, account markets will figure that out and react and know it's not durable. you talk about the debt ceiling

and you said yourself congress blew it last summer, your words and not mine. you call republican threats not to raise the debt ceiling a, quote, economic weapon of mass destruction. what do you make of the president's request for a permanent mike in the debt ceiling with no spending cuts attached? >> he's not going to get that. congress won't do it. you have a republican majority, bottom line. i think getting something like what governor engler proposed and he's a conservative republican, he a five-year extension on the debt ceiling so that's off the table and takes away the instability and makes sense. the dilemma with the debt ceiling is that it is an economic weapon of mass destruction. it is leverage, but the consequences of using it where we actually are putting in the play, defaulting on our obligations has catastrophic consequences to the economy. i mean, last august when we did that, it resulted in $18 billion in additional interest expense over the next ten years and we had our first credit downgrade

in the history of the country. that is not good for the economy. >> congressman peter welch, democrat from vermont. congressman, thank you. >> thank you very much. >> angry protestors are now advancing towards the presidential palace in cairo right now. they have not breached the palace gates we're told, but they have overtaken the aadjacent streets to the palace. this as the main opposition coalition is rejecting a formal offer for talks with egypt's president mohamed morsi. nbc is in cairo on this friday afternoon, friday night there in cairo. before we get to the protestors, sir, i know you have new information about voting on the country's draft constitution. what can you tell us about that? >> reporter: that's right, craig. in fact, breaking news just coming here it to nbc. that is that the vote scheduled to begin tomorrow for all egyptians living abroad. this was a vote on egypt's new draft constitution set to take place at embassies around the

world. that vote now has been delayed according to egypt's electoral commission. the reason it's so important is because it is an indication as to the insight perhaps of egypt's president more hhamed m and what's taking place on the streets. protestors demand that president morsi rescind a decree that gave him absolute powers that he issued two weeks ago. also, they wanted to see president morsi delay the vote that was scheduled to take place on december 15th inside the country on this new draft constitution. while he has gone aahead and delayed that vote for egyptians living abroad. that was supposed to start tomorrow, and now people think and are hoping that perhaps between now and december 15th he will also consider delaying the vote on that constitution. it would be a major victory for egypt's liberal opposition wo for now has refused to talk to president morsi directly. there are low-level meetings with smuft smaller opposition forces scheduled it to take

place tomorrow at the presidential palace. right now the major bloc of the opposition refuses to meet with president morsi. >> i understand that president morsi spoke to egyptians yesterday. that does not seem to have squashed the outrage as well. what are they demanding? >> well, there's two central points to the demands of the protestors now outside the presidential palace. the constitution that is now scheduled to be voted on december a15th they argue doesnt represent all egyptians. they say it was drafts by parties that's not inclusive and not clear and mediocre. they want a constitution more inclusive and represents all egyptians. the problem is they don't have enough time to drive home a new consensus or draft constitution. that's why they're demanding president morsi delay the vote. the other thing that triggered all the protests two weeks ago he issued a decree that gave himself absolute powers. essentially the ability to make

laws above judicial review. they want that decision as well immediately revoked by the president so they don't feel this country is going back to a dictatorship like they fought for two years ago. >> thanks always, sir. do appreciate that. meanwhile, in syria, rebel forces are battling government troops in the suburbs near damascus. president assad desperately clings to power there. the rebels are also moving towards the damascus international airport just south of the capital. clashes in the area forced the closure of the airport road for the second time this week. all of this as secretary of state hillary clinton confirmed that the u.s. and russia are in, in fact, working toward a political solution led by the u.n. special envoy to syria. >> the united states stands with the syrian people in insisting that any transition process result in a unified, democratic

syria in which all citizens are represented. a future of this kind cannot possibly include assad. >> the syrian conflict is also aif he canning the region now. beyond the fears of chemical weapons being used, today the jordanian armed forces returned fire after several shells fired from syria landed in their territory and wounded a soldier. up next back here, big earthquake hits the same japanese coast devastated by last year's massive quake, and what the white house is considering doing that could prevent colorado and washington state from enacting those new pot laws. [ male announcer ] this december, remember -- ♪ you can stay in and like something... ♪ [ car alarm deactivates ] ♪

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although many doctors are a aunawares taking grapefruit during taking medications can be dangerous. doctors have discovered 85 drugs that interact with grapefruit. one day after washington state became the first state to legalize recreational use of marijuana, there's a chance the state's big weed experiment may all go to pot. that's because as "the new york times" reports the white house could be joining forces with the justice department to take action against washington and colorado, which also recently legalized the recreational use of marijuana. joining me from the white house, nbc news white house correspondent, kristen welker. sticky issue for the president. to what degree is the administration prepared to enforce federal law without

alienating a significant number of people that just supported i his re-election? >> reporter: good morning. a number of people that supported president obama, liberal democrats, may support the initiatives to legalize marijuana in colorado as well as washington. here's what's happening right now. the justice department is essentially reviewing these initiatives. they're reviewing it against the controlled substance act. this basically says that by federal law it is illegal to possess or sell marijuana, so that's what's going on behind the scenes, these conversations in early stages right now. i don't believe there's any action that's necessarily imminent. of course, we have to wait and see on that point. you're absolutely right. politically this could be challenging for president obama, but at this point in time they're really looking at all the options and basically making the case reminding people that, look, this is still illegal under federal law. craig. >> what were the white house's

options here, kristen? >> reporter: they have a couple options. one might be taking legal action against low-level offenders and then trying to make the case that ultimately federal law trumps state law. another option might be going straight at the state level and basically saying they don't have authority to regulation taxes and other initiatives when it comes to marijuana. craig. >> we look ahead to the president's inauguration next month. politico tweeting a few hours ago that president obama will accept unlimited corporate donations for his inauguration in january. that's a departure from four years ago. what's behind the change? >> reporter: it is a departure. the white house weighed in as well. we're not taking money from super-pacs or anything like that, but they don't want to tap back into their donors. they feel their donors are all tapped out after this election, which, of course, raised record amounts of money. that's why they look to

corporate donations. they're pointing out this year the celebrations are going to be much more scaled back. there will be three inaugural balls, no big concert. so it's not the same huge celebration that we saw back in 2008. of course, that's in part because of the economy and they want to be mindful of that. but that is what is really driving this change. they feel their supporters, donors are tapped out after this historically election campaign. >> more on that in a few moments. thank you. >> the kansas city chiefs will pay for an nfl linebacker's funeral after his suicide. that tops our look at stories around the "news nation" today. not only will the chiefs pay for joevan belcher's funeral, the team has also offered financial assistance to the family of his murdered girlfriend, kasandra perkins. it's not clear if perkins' family accepted the offer. a spokesperson of the chiefs say they don't want to get into specifics. more than 2,000 people were

expected at a ceremony to it mark 71 years of the japanese attack at pearl harbor. a moment of silence marked the moment when the bombing began. they honored the more than 2400 service members and civilians killed in that attack. video captures a 7.3 magnitude quake that struck off the coast of northern japan earlier today. several people reportedly hurt, but there were no reports at this point of serious damage. one coastal city reported a tsunami of three feet that hit about 45 minutes after the quake. up next, a new report shows that the 2012 presidential election broke a big money milestone. it made it the most expensive race ever. we'll tell you precisely how much was spent. it's our "news nation" gut check. don't forget, you can join the "news nation." we're looking for members on facebook. there we are right there. we're at facebook.com/newsnation.

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there's a whole heck of a lot going on in tri. burglars broke into darrell issa's home a few days ago stealing about $100,000 worth of jewelry. they say the stolen items were priceless heirlooms. nikki haley is looking to replace jim demint. south carolina native and favorite son stephen colbert with with an idea of who should fill that seat. >> who will she pick? you want somebody young and conservative, somebody from south carolina. maybe somebody who had a super pac. wait a second. >> watch where you point that thing. it's powerful.

okay. >> governor haley jokingly writing thank you for your interest in the u.s. senate seat, but you didn't know our state drink. big, big mistake. for the record the state drink in south carolina is milk. the 2012 presidential election broke the $2 billion mark making it the most expensive race in american plital history. federal finance reports show president obama's re-election team raced just north of $1.1 billion while team romney raised just under $1.1 billion. that story is the topic of our gut check on this friday. what does your gut tell you? is a $2 billion election too expensive? go to facebook.com/newsnation to vote. that will do it for this friday edition of "news nation." i'm craig melvin. "the cycle" is up next.

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